Since we were little, our parents teach us not to play with food. That child who dares and disobeys, risks confronting the authority of his family. However, there comes a time when culinary art and sculpture come together and the results can be dire or sublime. These artists prove their immense talent of being able to reproduce and create great works of art using only food.

Food in a dish

Hong Yi, a Malaysian architect, makes art out of everyday objects. Recently, he has launched a collection of artworks made on plates and using different condiments and sauces.  One of her most well-known and impressive works is the series known as "31 Days of Creativity with Food". A wonderful series of works of ephemeral art, created on the white background of a plate and with various foods.  Ephemeral art is any artistic expression conceived under a concept of transience in time, of non-permanence as a material and preservable artistic object. Because of its perishable and transitory nature, ephemeral art does not leave a lasting work.

Culinary landscaping

Carl Warner, inspired by Dalí himself and the cartoonist Patrick Woodroffe, decided to dedicate himself to the world of photography, adding, in turn, a gastronomic visual concept. The photographer created a new type of art called foodscapes. This term comes from the English word landscape. Using fruits, vegetables and a photographic studio, Warner has created models ranging from farm landscapes to a reproduction of the Great Wall of China, which he named The Great Wall of Pineapple.

Chinese cabbage

Ju Duoqi, the young Chinese artist, versions and turns masterpieces in to vegetables. A cabbage Marilyn Monroe, a tofu Mona Lisa, a potato Napoleon or even a leek Van Gogh are some of the artist's most famous digital photocompositions.  For one of her collections called The Fantasies of Chinese Cabbage, Ju Duoqi had to use various cabbage cooking techniques to give it different shades and textures and hold the cabbage by means of chopsticks. "My art respects the environment," Ju Duoqi adds in an interview. Painting and sculpture require very expensive materials, take up too much space and are not even recyclable. The idea of using vegetables came about because "they are cheaper, they are very close to our life and can be easily transformed into something else." "When I finish working, I eat them," he explains.

The art world is always in constant movement and innovation. Using food to create works of art is favorable for the artist, the environment and even for the viewer. Food becomes their inspiration and more and more artists are joining this movement, such as Alfons Koller, Greer Pester or Iara Guedes.